Lake City man sentenced in DUI

By Lisa Thompson lisa.thompson@timesnews.com

Friday

Mar 12, 2010 at 1:17 AMMar 12, 2010 at 1:55 AM

A Lake City man was sentenced Thursday in Erie County Court to serve six months in the Erie County Prison for driving under the influence in connection with a crash that claimed another Lake City man's life.

Mikhail Burykin, 19, must also serve two years probation and pay court costs and fines, Judge Shad Connelly said.

The charges stemmed from a collision that occurred June 30 at the intersection of West Lake and Eaton roads in Fairview.

Matthew J. Frazzini, 47, a local filmmaker and plant manager at Amthor Steel, died after his SUV collided with Burykin's car.

Connelly noted during the hearing that his sentence was only for the charges to which Burykin had pleaded no contest -- DUI and marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession.

Burykin had not been found legally responsible for Frazzini's death, he said.

"I cannot sentence the defendant for causing the death of the victim. That will have to remain for a civil case," he said.

Police said Burykin's car was on Eaton Road, facing north, when he pulled away from a stop sign and struck Frazzini's vehicle just behind the driver's side door.

A witness to the crash had said that Frazzini was traveling at a high rate of speed.

Erie County Deputy Coroner Korac Timon listed the cause as blunt force trauma to the head and chest.

Burykin and the four passengers in his car were not injured, police said.

District Attorney Jack Daneri said that the entire Erie County District Attorney's Office legal staff reviewed the case before any charging decisions were made.

He said the evidence did not indicate that the accident was caused by Burykin or the marijuana that was in his system.

"Based on the accident reconstruction, where we take in the speed and the movements of both vehicles before the crash, combined with the legal definitions, we did not believe there was sufficient evidence to charge him," he said.

Burykin's sentence came after he pleaded no contest in January to DUI, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and a summary traffic violation.

Burykin's lawyer, Andrew Sisissini, told Connelly on Thursday that Burykin had "no malice in his heart" at the time of the crash.

He said Burykin has a "problem with marijuana" and needs to get his life straightened out.

The judge allowed a friend of Frazzini's family read a letter that had been written by Frazzini's sister, Laura. She wrote about the devastating impact her brother's death had on the family.

"I still don't believe this is real," she wrote. "My brother made the world a much better place."

LISA THOMPSON can be reached at 870-1802 or by e-mail.

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